Chapter 10: Demons
Ken was sitting on the balcony of his room admiring the view of the storm from his window while sipping on a bottle of imported water, when his phone rang. 'Ahh, that should be Eliza calling.' He walked over to the phone and picked it up.
"Hello, beautiful" Ken said into the phone. "Oh I'm sorry Chun li, I thought it was my girlfriend calling.... Huh? Slow down a second. You're in the park with Ryu right now.... AND WHAT HAPPENED??!!"
"STAY RIGHT THERE! I'M LEAVING RIGHT NOW." Ken threw down the phone and ran out the door.
Chun li clicked off her cell phone. She was still cradling Ryu's head in her lap. He was still breathing, but had not regained consciousness yet. The rain continued to pour down on them. Chun li tried to hunch over Ryu's face to keep the rain off. About five minutes later, she heard the wet sloshes of someone running full tilt towards them.
Ken raced up to the pair and skidded to a halt. Chun li was sobbing openly now. "It's all my fault! If I hadn't been here, this would not have happened!" she cried.
Placing his hand on Ryu's forehead, Ken recoiled back for a second feeling the negative Chi in his friend. "You say this 'demon looking guy' conjured out of his hands a ball of purple energy and shot it at you?"
"Yes." she sobbed, wiping the wet strands of hair away from her face. "I could not move out of the way, I froze. If it was not for Ryu dashing in and pushing me out of the way taking the blast for me...." she trailed off.
"Is Ryu going to be alright? Should we get him to a doctor?" she asked.
"I don't know. I'm afraid a doctor can't help him now, but I might be able to. I was never as good as Ryu when it came to focusing Chi. The blast he took would have killed anyone else, but his will is strong." Ken closed his eyes and stretched his hand out to his friend's forehead again."
Slowly chanting over and over in an ancient tongue, his hand began to radiate a light blue nimbus. Ken's face contorted, he was obviously struggling to help his friend. An aura of light purplish color began to glow around Ryu's body, and then it slowly started to change to a light blue color. After a few minutes the glow from around Ken's hand faded and he held back his head and exhaled.
Chun li watched helplessly as Ken finally opened his eyes. "That's all I can do for him," he said out of breath. "I expelled the negative chi that he absorbed, and channeled some positive chi into him to start healing him."
Ryu's eyes flickered slightly "...K?Ken... the demon? the demon was here....," he said weakly.
"I know buddy." Ken said clasping his friend's shoulder. "How do you feel?"
"Like a train ran over me. Is Chun li ok?" Ryu replied trying to open his eyes fully.
"I'm fine." She said with fresh tears of joy streaming down her face.
Ryu started to stand up but 'wobbled'. Chun li caught him under his arm and helped him steady himself. "I don't think you should be moving around right now." she said looking into his eyes with concern.
"I...I just need help to get back to the hotel... I'll be fine." He replied, holding tight to Chun li's shoulder.
"Okay pal, I know it's of no use to argue with you." Ken said helping to support Ryu from the left side.
They slowly walked out of the park to the street. Ken hailed down a taxi, and soon they were in the private elevator heading to the top floor of the hotel. Ryu had regained enough strength to stand on his own, but Chun li still held onto his arm.
Ken opened the door and switched on the lights. "I'll be fine from here." Ryu said as he walked over to his duffel bag and rummaged through it for a fresh gi.
"Are you sure?" Chun li asked, still concerned.
"Yes, I just need to rest for the night. Thank you both for your help." he said as he turned to walk into the bathroom turning on the shower.
"Okay, just take it easy pal! You took a huge hit of negative Chi. Even YOU have to slow down." He motioned for Chun li to follow him out the door.
"You had better get out off those wet clothes." Ken said as they walked away from the door.
"I want to know what I experienced tonight and who this Gouki is." Chun li replied.
"Okay, meet me in my room in say 30 minutes after we have had enough time to change and I?ll tell you."
Chun li went to her room and took a hot relaxing shower. After she dried herself off, she sat on her bed and braided her long hair into a ponytail. She donned a long nightshirt and sweatpants. She walked back down the hall pausing briefly at Ryu's door then went on to Ken's room. She knocked on the door. Ken opened the door while holding the phone to his ear. He motioned for her to come on and to have a seat.
"Yes, we are in Hong Kong. Uh huh... Probably stay here for a while. No, not sure where we're off to. Meet you in Paris a month from now? Yeah, that sounds good. I miss you too! Uh huh... Good bye sweetie." Ken said clicking off the phone.
"My girlfriend." Ken said pointing at the phone.
"She is a lucky girl to have found a great guy as yourself." Chun li smiled at him.
"Thanks." Ken smiled back at her. "About what happened..." Ken said turning serious.
"The man you saw tonight was Gouki. He was our Sensei?s brother. They both trained under Master Goutetsulong ago, as Ryu and I did with Master Gouken. Gouki sought the forbidden techniques and powers of the ancient Shotokan arts. His thirst for the knowledge consumed him and he disappeared for decades, believed to have been destroyed by that power he sought."
"After Ryu and I completed our training with Sensei, we headed off to see what the world had to offer us. We had seen many tournaments and many victories. We returned to the secluded Dojo in Japan to tell Sensei what we had done to honor his name. When we finally came to the steps leading into the main hut, we both felt the aura of evil in the once peaceful area."
"We hurried to the master's dojo and found him dying. His wounds were too grave to save him. He smiled up at the both of us knowing we had honored him. With his dying last breath, he told us to beware of his brother, who had returned. He was the one who killed our master. It really shook me up losing him. But it really affected Ryu the most. Gouken was a father to him. He is the only family that Ryu has ever known, other than me."
"How awful!" Chun li said with a pang in her voice. 'He lost the only family he ever knew as did I.' she thought.
"We buried Sensei close to a waterfall. He always went there to meditate. We vowed revenge on our Sensei?s grave. I asked Ryu to come back to the states with me, but he refused. We parted that day for the first time in 9 years. Ryu went off to perfect the fight, while I went back to my family. We have not ever talked about what happened that day, nor did we ever come across Gouki again, 'til now."
"Why was I not able to move to help Ryu when he appeared." she asked.
"Ryu could probably explain this to you better than I could, but I?ll try. There are two sides to everything. Yin and Yang if you will. There is the positive side of chi which Ryu and I can channel, and then there is the negative side of chi, which is what Gouki can channel. Positive chi comes from all living things and symbolizes harmony. While negative chi stems from death and decay."
"When you first encountered Gouki, your body was trying to fight off the negative impact of his chi in the area. That's why you couldn't move. When you start to learn the basics of Chi mastery, you will not have that happen again. The bolt of purple energy that he sent at you would have killed you if not for Ryu stepping in to intercept it. Negative chi penetrates your body and destroys the positive chi you have."
"Those who have no knowledge how to control their chi are doomed. Even those with knowledge of chi mastery cannot shake the effects off so easily. It simply destroys you from within. Ryu is fortunate to have a very strong chi. What I cannot figure out is why he targeted you."
Chun li blushed slightly at this.
"Well I guess he obviously knows that you like Ryu. Other wise he would not have even cared that you were there." Ken noticed Chun li was becoming very uncomfortable with the subject. "Well, it's almost 2 am, you had better get some sleep. It's been a VERY weird day for all of us. Good night." he smiled as he held the door open for Chun li.
"Thank you Ken." she replied walking down the hallway.
As the time neared three o'clock in the morning, Chun li quietly crept into Ryu's room carrying a blanket. The storm outside had lessened to a soft rain. She silently walked over to his bed where he was sound asleep. "He seems so peaceful after what happened to him tonight. He hides so much pain behind those deep brown eyes of his." she thought to herself. She quietly bent over to him and lightly kissed him on the cheek. "Sweet dreams my wandering warrior." she softly said. She walked over and sat into a chair close by his bed and watched him sleep until she dozed off herself